need law advice quick question on court appearances

[riverdale]

I have a civil suit going against an employer who did not pay me for my last check. I am trying to figure this out without paying for a lawyer, because the money involved makes that not feasible.
The company ripping me off is in Arizona and I reside in Massachusetts. The court date was set in Phoenix. I got a motion granted to appear telephonically, then just before the court date they granted a motion by the plaintiff to make me appear in person. That is 3000 miles away, I can never make that. What are my options, if any? What happens if I don't appear in court?
Thanks

[meegbear]

1. Appear and add travel expenses to the monies owed

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. You should probably call the Clerk of the Court and ask them. n/t

[riverdale]

6. .

Whoever answers at that court is like an extremely unhelpful robot who won't tell me anything about anything

[EFerrari]

3. If you are in Small Claims, they usually have a free counseler there.

Your old employer is betting you won't show up. Call the court and see if someone is available to advise you.

[Coyote_Bandit]

4. Why

are you asking for legal advice online?

And why exactly are you bothering to sue?

If an employer doesn't pay wages earned and owed that is generally actionable by the state labor board on your behalf. There may not be any need for you to sue. But since you already have sued the case my e dismissed if you don't bother to show up.

Sometimes its worth asking - and paying - for advice from folks who are qualified to give it.

[riverdale]

8. ,

are you asking for legal advice online?
~I guarantee someone here knows the answer to this

And why exactly are you bothering to sue?
~Worked and was not paid

If an employer doesn't pay wages earned and owed that is generally actionable by the state labor board on your behalf. There may not be any need for you to sue. But since you already have sued the case my e dismissed if you don't bother to show up.
~Labor board wouldn't do anything; I don't want to get into all the details


Sometimes its worth asking - and paying - for advice from folks who are qualified to give it.
~ Lawyers need to charge less than $250/hr with a 1hr minimum to talk to you, then it would be worth it

[Coyote_Bandit]

11. Sooooooo.......

You're asking for advice because you don't know what your options are and yet you apparently seem to think that you will somehow be able to know who here is giving you good advice. Good luck with that.

If the labor board has refused to take up your complaint and if you rely on bad online advice you may be permanently precluded from further pursuing your case. In some circumstances that is a definite possibility.

I certainly wouldn't rely on professional (e.g., medical, legal, tax, etc.) advice from random online discussion participants.

Maybe you should look for a law library.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Coyote_Bandit]

16. Ummmm......

I have a juris doctorate and a couple of bar licenses. That in and of itself suggests that I know a whole hell of a lot more about civil procedure than you.

Welcome to my fucking ignore list.

[TexasObserver]

23. Good analysis.

People who seek legal advice from everyone will often take it from anyone. They make no distinction between someone who is trained versus their next door neighbor's visiting cousin.

This case has already been screwed up beyond repair, and no lawyer in his or her right mind would take it now. While the plaintiff may theoretically have a right to dismiss and refile in another state, competent trial counsel for the defendant company has likely filed an appropriate pleading (such as a counterclaim or motion for sanctions) to stop the plaintiff from simply dismissing in Arizona to refile in another state.

Suing in Arizona was a huge mistake. It probably can't be fixed. The defendant has the advantage, and it was given to them. If this case had been filed in Massachusetts by a lawyer, it might have been settled favorably to the plaintiff by now.

[Catshrink]

25. Maybe more about civil procedure but not civility.

[Sanity Claws]

5. Aren't you the plaintiff?

If you are the one suing for past wages, then you are the plaintiff. How then can a motion by the plaintiff require you to attend in person? Also, did you receive notion of the motion? Did you oppose it?

[riverdale]

7. .

sorry got the terminology wrong

[Sanity Claws]

9. DId you receive notice of the motion?

Did you oppose it, if you did? If you failed to oppose the motion, it most likely would be granted as a matter of course.

Also why did you bring suit in Arizona? Why didn't you bring the matter to your state department of labor?

I'm not advising you but keep in mind that you can dismiss a case without prejudice if you do so early on. That means you can start over in a different forum or the same one at a different time, as long as you are still within the statute of limitations.

[riverdale]

14. www

DId you receive notice of the motion?

~I just found out today, and the court date was set for tomorrow. The date got re-set to end of September.

Did you oppose it, if you did? If you failed to oppose the motion, it most likely would be granted as a matter of course.
~ I just found out today. It looks like my next move is to oppose their opposition of my appearing telephonically. We'll see how it goes.

Also why did you bring suit in Arizona? Why didn't you bring the matter to your state department of labor?
~ Company is based in AZ. I did work for them remotely from CT for a client in FL. My home is in MI. Every other state involved here passed the buck to AZ, so that's how it goes.

I'm not advising you but keep in mind that you can dismiss a case without prejudice if you do so early on. That means you can start over in a different forum or the same one at a different time, as long as you are still within the statute of limitations.
~ I would love to know what other forums are possible, and how I could put in a request for this.

[Sanity Claws]

17. As you can see, the details are important

That's one of the reasons that it is not a good idea to get legal advice from anonymous posters on line.
Why don't you call your county and state bar associations and see if there is a legal clinic in your area? You would get better advice than you will on line.

[csziggy]

19. Check with the Bar Association in your state or in Arizona

The Florida Bar has a deal where they will refer you to an attorney with a minimal charge for the initial consultation. Years ago I used that service and paid $10 for 30 minutes of attorney time. I explained my problem, he gave me my options and advice on writing a letter to the person with whom I had the problem. One of the big advantages was that I could add "upon the advice of my attorney" to the letter. That scared the other party enough that they simply did as I asked. It was a simpler case than yours, but if you can find a service like that, you will at least have the benefit of an attorney's advice rather than uninformed comments and snarks on the internet.

[riverdale]

21. Thanks

The bar association was a great tip. I found this site, http://www.azbar.org/, which led me to a lawyer referral service which allows you to talk to a lawyer for up to 1/2 hour for $40. Now at least I have some clue what my options are.

[csziggy]

24. Great - now get all your facts together

So you can make the most of that half hour!. Make a folder of any documents, write up a page of notes of what you remember, and create a time line. It will help a lot.

Good luck!

[Obamanaut]

10. I would suggest not getting legal advice via an internet forum. nt

[taterguy]

12. It sounds like they're positioning themselves to smack you with Rule 11 sanctions

Do you know about Rule 11?

Boy am I glad that I'm not in your shoes.

Start saving for that lawyer. You're gonna need it for the shitstorm that's about to come down on you.

:scared: :scared: :scared:

[Sanity Claws]

15. You are needlessly scaring him

I also don't see why you even raised the issue of Rule 11.

[riverdale]

22. :)

Whoever was trying to scare me was on ignore anyway, ha ha

[TexasObserver]

18. Rule 11 is for FEDERAL courts. This doesn't appear to be a federal case.

This appears to be a common state court action, and may even be in small claims court. If he has a case which is entirely without basis, the state court likely could assess sanctions under their version of the Federal Rule 11, but this matter does not appear to fall within that. Plaintiff wasn't paid.

The OP risks losing his civil case if he doesn't show up. He might have costs and attorneys' fees assessed against him if he fails to appear, or even if he does appear. Worst case scenario is probably a judgment in favor of the other party for costs and attorneys' fees.

I agree he should have consulted an attorney before filing the case. He may have been able to file it in Massachusetts, instead of filing it in Arizona. Picking the right venue is one of the most critical decisions in filing lawsuits. There's more than one way to find a cause of action, more than one way to confer jurisdiction, more than one way to create proper venue. That's why people hire lawyers.

Once a person files suit in a venue, they have consented to jurisdiction and venue in such state/venue. The OP is stuck there now. He filed suit in Arizona, and that court has jurisdiction of him and his claim against his former employer.

It's a mess, and it might have been a case that could produce money to him, but by trying to handle it himself, he's made it worse than it was. Kind of like the guy who tries to do his own plumbing and ends up flooding the house.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

20. Wait A Minute. This Doesn't Make Sense.

If YOU filed a suit against your former employer, YOU are the Plaintiff, and therefore YOU get to choose the venue. If the matter is being heard in Arizona, it's because YOU filed suit in Arizona. Either that, or there's more to this story.

What I suspect is the case is that your former employer sued you for something and you counterclaimed for the final paycheck. Am I right?

Either way, jurisdiction could be proper in either Arizona or Massachussetts. When you were working for this employer, did you live in Arizona? Did you do the work in Arizona? If so, I would say that jurisdiction is MORE proper in Arizona. However, in cases like this, Courts generally tend to allow jurisdiction in the State where travel is the LEAST burdensome (meaning, they generally make the party with more money do the traveling).

Now, if we're talking about a company that is BASED in Arizona, but has branches in lots of States, and you did all your work in a Massachussetts BRANCH, then jurisdiction would be more proper in Massachussetts.

On to your specific question. There are many ways to have the venue moved. If you filed the lawsuit, you can just dismiss in Arizona and refile in Massachussetts. If you didn't file the Complaint, you can file a Motion for Change of Venue and argue that jurisdiction is more proper in Massachussetts because that's where you reside, that's where you worked, you're the party least able to afford travel, etc.

If you can't change the venue, then you have a couple of options. Either swallow hard and show up (and make sure you keep track of your out-of-pocket expenses, as they are considered "costs" a lot of the time), or don't show up. If you don't show, your claims will be dismissed AND whatever claims your former employer filed against you will be granted by default. Not a nice option.

Again, this is all fairly complex legal stuff we're talking about here. I understand that money's tight, but if you try to negotiate this river without a lawyer, things could really go South fast. If you screw up even a little bit, you could not only lose YOUR claim, but be on the hook for all your former employer's costs as well. This thing could end up following you around for a LOOOOOOOOOONG time. It's an awfully big risk to take just to save a couple bucks. Penny wise, pound foolish, as they say.

Here's something else to consider. If your former employer stiffed you for money you earned, you might consider reporting them to "Wage and Hour" in their State. I don't know if they have that in Arizona (or wherever), but most States do have something to that effect (maybe known by a different name).